


Terpsichore's Song And Dance

by DragonDreads (cjbage)



Series: Jade Shepard [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Xenophilia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-05-04 07:07:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5325053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjbage/pseuds/DragonDreads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>** On Temporary Hiatus**</p><p>This is an Alternate universe of one of my Alternate universe stories. Confusing innit...</p><p>So a request was made to have a story where my female Shepard, Jade and one of my most beloved original characters, Carius,  actually have a chance at a lasting relationship. </p><p>So spins a tangled web. Do I somehow have a higher power intervene?  Do I change my main story to have Carius replace Kolyat as her love interest? Or do I make a completely different story all together. One with a far happier time together for these two than where their original story had led them. </p><p>The nice thing about Alternate Universes ... I can do whatever the hell I want ... ;) </p><p>So begins a new tale of Jade Shepard and Carius Indril.</p><p>~~~</p><p>Fresh from Earth a new C-Sec rookie finds herself partnered with a turian. When her new boss tells her that all of the Officer Candidates must attend the C-Sec Charity Ball or be stuck on lower ward duty for the next year she cringes. See, there is one thing nobody but her knows ... Shepard can't dance. When her partner learns her secret he assures her that he knows just the person to teach her and his name is Carius.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is only the introduction. This particular part takes place during the time right after Jade talked to a mysterious female drell before heading for the final showdown with Cerberus and the reclaiming of Earth.
> 
>  *~* 
> 
> The chapters will take a while to write as I have others that I am working on as well, but the main Jade/Kolyat story has reached the point where I feel it is time to start with the writing of this one and readying it for publishing on Ao3.
> 
> Standard Disclaimer: Bioware owns all of the Mass Effect Universe, including but not limited to the recognizable characters. Any original characters are my own. There is no monetary gain from this work. All I am doing is playing around with their universe.
> 
> **~**  
> Please do not use my original characters in a different story unless permission is asked for and received.  
> Do not post this story in a different archive, forum, or mailing list. I post only on Archive of Our Own. If you like it please post a link to this page instead. Thank you.  
> **~**

* * *

 

 

The woman was sitting on a chaise, a long flowing piece of fabric draped about her as she quietly played a melody on the lyre she held in her hands. The notes of the haunting melody drifted in the air as she watched the scene in front of her unfold. Her eyes moving over the group of people whos lives and souls were intertwined through space and time. She saw once again one of her favored souls, blessed with a love of song and dance, lose the one they loved to a different soul.  Then she was betrayed and once again he lost his chance with her to one that had been fashioned by them when they believed they had run out of time and she let out a sigh.    
  
She was soon joined by another woman,  this one much different. She also wore a long flowing piece of fabric that draped artfully around her form, but unlike the woman on the chaise, she was covered in scales. Her head showed slightly flared ridges and frills, dark red ribbing ran down her cheeks to her neck. Her eyes sought out the muse's,  their deep black pools searching the others face.  
  
"So it is repeated,  his beautiful soul once more hurt,  his heart torn asunder." The woman stopped playing for a few seconds then a new melody started to sound forth.

"You know as well as I, sister, that their story must play out like this. It has from the very beginning. And will until the end. Keriha is finally ready, the story will finally come to its conclusion soon. The players and their roles were clearly defined so many millennia ago. We interfered once.  We can not do so again." The dual tones of the other female held a musical quality of their own.  
  
"I know,  sister,  but there must be some way. Look at him, his soul is becoming tattered and torn,  while the others remain nearly whole. There must be something we can do. What I wish is for some way that he can have her. He deserves so much better than what had been predestined for him. They were happiest in this space and time when they were together. There must be something. Some way."

The music changed once again. "A parallel of this time, a parallel ...", they watched as the notes she played took on an ethereal radiance as they circled the two souls.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Quick reminder to my regular readers and to any new ones, I don't use a beta so any mistakes you find are all my own. If something is desperately needing to be fixed please let me know. 
> 
> The characters, especially the turians, may be OOC. Not a single one of these are meant to be copies of Garrus. Each one has their own personality and should in no way be compared to him.
> 
> Also please keep in mind, those that have read the prior stories to this one, the circumstances that had shaped both Shepard and Carius in those stories didn't happen in this one. There is a possibility that their behavior or quirks will be slightly changed to fit more with this Jade and Carius than the other ones.

* * *

 

 

Jade Shepard sat with her nose in a data pad as the transport shuttle made its way toward the Citadel. She had just been accepted into Citadel Security,  true it was for what amounted to a beat cop,  but she could work her way up until she had a chance of getting into the Criminal Investigations Department. She had her foot in the door,  now she just needed to make sure she didn't screw it up.  
  
She had spent the last 2 years on patrol duty in the small town where her parents and her lived. Constantly taking online courses to try and get a better spot on the force just wasn't working. They were "old school",  as her dad had told her. To them a female didn't even belong on the force let alone anything higher than a dispatch officer. So she would scan the open transfers looking for something near their town for her to maybe get a better slot. But there was nothing, no openings and certainly no positions that she really wanted.  
  
Her father knew she wanted a chance for something better and contacted one of his old Marine buddies. Bailey listened to him then asked for her credentials,  he would see what he could do.  
  
Her first sight of the Citadel took her breath away. The station was enormous, glittering and glowing in a multitude of colors. Its five ward arms open wide letting ships come and go by the thousands. Now this was a place she could go far in.  She just had to prove herself.  
  
Once she docked and made her way through customs she stood to the side of the doorway into the ward and just stared. Aliens were everywhere, she wasn't used to seeing so many. An asari now and again, rarely a turian. But here so many different ones rushing here and there.  
  
She saw what looked like a transportation station and hurried across the deck to it. She followed the instructions on the small pedestal and waited for a car. When it dropped her off at the station closest to the address of her apartment she cringed. Instead of the small neat homes and manicured lawns she was used to, she looked around and saw dirty buildings, dark alleyways and a build up of trash in the receptacles. She activated the GPS system on her omni tool and headed in the direction it indicated.  
  
She almost screamed when she saw the green bug looking thing with a pack on its back scurry out from a hole in the wall and start working on a terminal. A few seconds later one of the lights that was flickering steadied and glowed brightly once again. The bug hurried back into the wall not even paying attention to the human that was frozen in her tracks.  
  
"What the hell was that thing?" She muttered under her breath, finally reaching the apartment building and entering.  
  
It was cleaner on the inside, metal and plastic walls of grey and chrome, a few artificial plants and basic art on the lobby walls. She approached the human that was behind the counter and handed him the documents to gain access to her apartment. He ran through the rules of the building, added her into the system and gave her a keycard. Warning her to lose that card would be a costly mistake as the owner of the building charged an outrageous fee for replacement. She input her security id code and the man pointed to the small elevator.  
  
After using the card and putting in her code she walked inside. The apartment wasn't much larger than a shoe box. A small bathroom with the basics; toilet, sink and a decon mist spray shower. The main room also served as a bedroom and dining room apparently. She sighed,  she had to buy something to use as a privacy screen around the bed. Then again she had to buy a bed since all that was there was a chair and a small table with a lamp. The kitchen had a small cooler and a small hot water dispenser,  a single heating plate,  one set of dinner wear. She hung her head then started to make a small shopping list. There was no way she could live here without a few more items. A quick search for second hand stores, variety shops and grocery stores near the apartment then she took the rest of the day trying to get her place set up and get ready to report for work the next morning.

 

* * *

  
  
She reported to the office the next morning with the packet sent to her. "Captain Bailey, my name is Shepard, sir. Reporting for duty."  
  
The rugged looking human male looked up,  he seemed to have kept up the military clean cut appearance. He took the packet, quickly scanning to make sure everything was in order then processed her into the database. "Alright, kid. Follow me. We'll get your uniforms and get you started on the week long newbie cram course. Once you get that done I'll assign you a partner and you can get to work."  
  
He showed her around the Ward's headquarters,  yelling at Officers that were standing around to get back to work, the criminals weren't going to catch themselves. He led her to a small room pulling out a bag from a cubby hole and shoving it at her. Then took her over to where a turian was leaning up against the counter watching something on a holo screen. "Get this grunt a full set of recruit gear," he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder where Shepard was standing. Once the uniforms were stuffed into the bag he led her out to another room. This one a class room and there were several other people milling around all holding the same type of bag as her and seemed to be waiting for someone.  
  
He grabbed a stack of datapads and thrust them at her, "these are guides for the Citadel.  Each datapad contains useful,  needful knowledge on each of the species and their quirks. The do's and dont's when you have to deal with one. Read them." He walked to the front of the room and faced the rest of them. "This room will be your classroom over the next week. At the end of that week you will be assessed to see if anything that you were told here actually sunk in,  then you will be taken to the firing range. A basic course is set up to see what skills you have. Once that is done,  if any of you make it,  you will be assigned a partner. I don't care if you have a problem with working with an alien,  you'll damn well do it and do your job. If you don't like it, tough shit,  suck it up or leave now." He waited for a minute and when no one walked toward the door he let out a grunt and pushed a holo button on the panel next to the door. "Drusso,  your newbs are finally all gathered,  get your ass in here and teach them something." He looked over the group of young recruits, human, asari and turian wondering just which ones would make it before he left.  
  
Jane dragged her feet as she walked to her apartment. The overstuffed bag tossed over her shoulder. The C-Sec boots were killing her feet until she could finally break them in to be comfortable. Maybe she should have listened to that turian and picked up some of those special insoles he told her about. Right now she was just too damned tired to care much. Although the time difference between Earth and Citadel was 4 hours less here, the new recruits were told their class and work days would consist of 14 hour days. That left 6 hours to get home, clean up and sleep before needing to report back to duty. They would get a day off each week until their probationary period was over then it was up to their commanding officers, of whichever ward they were permanently assigned on, to set up their schedules. She just hoped she could make it. From what she had been hearing from the others it wasn't an easy thing to get into C-Sec and most of the turians were the ones to get the positions since they were mainly transfers from their Hierarchy's military.  
  
She gave a sigh as she tossed her bag on the chair. She moved to the cabinet she had found in a second hand store and opened it revealing what used to be called a murphy bed. She grabbed the long strap and gave it a yank,  the legs opening and the bed slowly lowering down into position. She had splurged on one of the better quality gel infused mattresses to replace the old ratty one that had been left in the cabinet and gave an even deeper sigh as she sank down on it.  
  
After a few minutes she sat her alarm then grabbed a quick bite,  going over the first of the datapads. When she was done she fell into her bed to get 3 hours of sleep before needing to get up.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

 

 

The week had passed by slowly at first then as she adjusted seemed to fly by. There had been so much information to try and assimilate but the instructor told her not to worry so much, that no one, other than the drells they had working there, was able to remember everything. The majority will be shown to her by the partner she was assigned should she pass the range exercise.

Now here she was waiting her turn and watching from behind the glass enclosure of the range as another of the recruits fought their way through the maze. The others whispered that they hoped to be one of the last ones called since they could study the field and have a better chance. That was until the second person was called and the field changed. The set up would be different for each person and the instructor that was in there with them let out a laugh at the groans he heard when the recruits figured it out.

She let out a shaky breath when her name was called and she stepped through the barrier. The interior went dark and she heard Bailey over the speakers give a countdown. Shepard took a deep breath to calm her nerves and within seconds of the lights coming back up had already moved into position and got into the awareness zone she used when on duty. The snap and pop of the simulation weapon barely stopped as she moved from location to location, her aim swinging from target to target. Her brain processing the information in milliseconds, a mother with child hologram here, a turian with a gun there. C-Sec emblem flashed in her mind and she didn't shoot. The giant krogan that popped up aiming a shotgun at her ended up with a neat round hole in his forehead plate, two over his heart and another in his crotch. On and on it went until the end of her course.

When the rest of them finished theirs they were told to be back the day after tomorrow for the final assessment. Those that passed will be assigned their partners, the ones that didn't would need to turn in their uniforms, books and datapads.

Shepard went home, answered several messages from her parents letting them know that she would be getting the final results soon, then dropped into her bed for the first full nights sleep since she got to the Citadel.

 

* * *

 

"Shepard, that was quite the show you put on in the simulation course. I went back over your resume, you got a shit ton of courses under your belt. Why the hell are you here again? Your dad said something about the small town mentality." Bailey stared at her over his desk as he called her in to give her the results.

"Yes, sir. Something like that. There are no females on the force there, well to be honest, none in the entire district other than one dispatch officer, a receptionist and the mail clerk at one of the even smaller burroughs. I tried to expand my field studies, trying to find something that would gain me a foothold into the Criminal Investigation Division for the midwest branch. But without having the necessary field experience, let alone recommendations from my superiors, it was not going to happen."

"Huh... so you want to be an investigator. Well, things run a little differently up here than they do planet side. So this is what I am going to do. With your skill set, and the courses you completed, I'm assigning you as an Officer Candidate. For the next two years you will be under the guidance of an Officer, here on Zakera Ward. If at the end of those two years your assessments and history prove you to be the right candidate, you'll be accepted as an Officer and will be assigned to the C-Sec Investigations division on the Presidium."

She gave him a dazzling grin, "yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Yeah, well, don't thank me yet. You haven't met your partner." He tossed the datapad that held her information on it to the desktop and leaned over pressing a button his desk. "Officer Verilus, get in here, your recruit is waiting."

Several minutes later a large turian stepped through the door. He was a fairly uniform grey in color, she noticed his skin ... hide... whatever, was a bit lighter and he had markings on his face that were purple. His blue eyes stared at her, pinning her to the seat. "Verilus, meet your Officer Candidate partner for the next 2 years, Shepard. Show her the ropes, get her prepared. No funny business, no screwing around trying to get her to mess up. This one is worth the time."

She swallowed as she met his eyes and heard his grunt. "If you say so, Captain. Move it recruit, we have things to do and wasting time in this office isn't one of them."

"Damn it Kaetus, what the hell did I just get done telling you." Bailey leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, holding in his laughter as he watched Shepard leap from her chair and hightail it for the door. Kaetus just turned to him with his mandibles spread in a giant turian grin before stomping to the door and slapping the button to open it.

 

* * *

 

Kaetus watched his partner over the next week. The act he put on as a no nonsense hard turian had apparently scared her. She was always nervous around him and had a habit of jumping a mile in the air when he barked out her name. But she was a fast learner, her aim was true on the range and in the field. The gang of red sand dealers that he had been investigating were brought down quick and clean. Her shots well placed. Her willingness to do all the paperwork involved suited him as well. He hated the mounds of datapads that had built up on his desk. By the end of that week it was now empty of the offending pads, neat and clean.

He'd give her another few weeks then stop acting like a bastard toward her by then he would have a decent read on her.

Shepard jumped once again when her partner shouted her name all of a sudden. She hurried over to where he was standing looking at a holo screen that had data scrolling over it and waited to find out what he wanted.

"This is all the intel we have on a current spree of robberies. It has escalated into a robbery homicide situation during their last break in. That is why it is in our division. Go over this intel. See if anything pops out at you that you feel we should investigate further. I will be viewing the holo vids we just received from the security firm for the building across the street. After you are done we will head to the scene." He turned and headed to his own desk as she downloaded the information onto a datapad and headed to her tiny desk that he had shoved into a corner.

After several hours she brought over several datapads each one with a different heading. "These are the eyewitnesses. The ones highlighted all give vastly different statements than the other ones did. I'm not sure if they are the ones lying or if the other ones are afraid and covering up for the ones that did this. Their statements are all pretty close. Some of them had sections that were almost word for word the same." She handed him a different pad that had the sections highlighted so he could see what she was talking about.

He looked it over carefully and was rather impressed, but didn't show it to her. This human was rather surprising, Bailey called it right. This human was worth the time it would take to train her, she would make a good officer.

He let out a grunt, "let's go talk to these people."

 

* * *

 

The month flew past and finally Kaetus felt satisfied that she would be suitable. "Shepard! Get your ass in here." He watched as she ran from where she was standing in front of the sandwich dispensary and slid to a halt a short distance from his desk. "Come with me, rookie."

They got into one of the C-Sec cars and he took off not giving her any information on where they were going and she was trying to ignore the hunger rumbles that was coming from her belly. She looked out the windows as they arrived on the Silver Sun Strip and he slid the car smoothly into a space near a noodle shop.

"Let's grab a bite and talk, I just love this noodle shop."

She blinked at him but didn't argue.

They sat at one of the outdoor tables, "look Shepard, I'm sorry for being such a bastard toward you. But you have to understand, the training is a two year commitment. For both of us. The rookies come in, hungry for action, thinking it will be easy or all action. It's not. It's tedious, boring, dangerous and that's just when it's normal. I can count on one of your hands how many of the new recruits for Officer training actually make it after two years. After having been stuck with so many that come in and not being able to cut it, I started to weed them out faster. The fastest way I found was to be a scary turian asshole. Gets rid of them fast." He let out a laugh and she gave him a slight smile around the mouthful of noodles.

"But you... you are one of the ones that I think is gonna make it. You handle the boring crap like paperwork well, you have a good eye for detail, and you're one hell of a shot... for a human." He grinned at her. "So let's get you ready to become a C-Sec CID Officer, shall we?"

She gave him a big grin and he laughed, "the first thing you have to remember... appearance is everything." He pointed to a spot next to her mouth, "you've got some green shit stuck to your face. Just there."

"Damn it, " she grabbed her napkin and wiped at her face to get the piece of onion or nori from her face. He just laughed at her.

 

* * *

 

Time started to fly by after that, they had started to spend off duty hours together and he would take her around to show her the places on the Citadel where the off duty cops would hang out, also the better places to eat and find groceries. He did grimace when he found out where she lived and told her the first thing she needed to do was to get a better security system.

They had just been finishing up work when he got a message on his omni tool that caused his mandibles to flick then pull in tight to his face. "Damn it. Look gonna have to bail out for tonight. If you see the others just tell them something's come up. I'll see you in the morning, Shepard."

"Alright, see ya."

After work she went home grabbed something to eat and sat in front of the holo screen flipping through channels, finally giving a sigh and changing. She wanted to go out, but not to where the cops were, but someplace else. Somewhere she could sit and people watch while sucking down a fruity alcoholic drink without a co-worker snickering at her choice of refreshments. Maybe find someone for a hook up, after all she had been on the Citadel for months now and hadn't had any time to even think about getting laid. And she couldn't chat someone up in her usual joints as they all worked at C-Sec, talk about awkward.

She started looking through the wards for bars that she hadn't gone to but where in the better areas that Kaetus had told her about. Hmm, there was one in the 800 block called I-Nova. She grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

The bar was loud, filled with a mix of humans and asari, she spotted a few salarians and a volus at the bar. The blue lights they had seemed to wash everything out turning it all blue or in the case of the few turians that was also there, grey. She slid into a darkened booth in the corner and used the menu to place her order. When the tall, multicolored, fruit filled glass arrived she settled back in her booth to watch the people dancing. She spotted several people that apparently couldn't wait to get back to their own places or to the hotels nearby and thought between the strange lighting and the noise of the place, their current activities in the darkened corners would go unnoticed.

She shrugged, she was off duty and as long as it was consensual it was none of her business. And if the way they had their tongues stuck down each others throats or were grinding together while the asari had their hands on their partner, their eyes dark as night, it was defininately not against either ones will. She let her gaze drift over the tables and the people standing around and let out a sigh. No one was catching her interest in here. She'd give it a while longer then leave.

She had just finished her second drink and was getting ready to pay when her eyes were drawn to a rather large turian that had just walked through the door and headed toward the bar. She let her eyes move over him. He was larger than the others she had seen at the bar, his fringe almost touching the lighted overhang as he leaned against the counter and placed his order. She put him somewhere close to seven feet tall, a good foot taller than most of the humans she knew and even a half a foot taller than Kaetus.

She couldn't see his markings clearly from where she was sitting. She did, however, notice that several other people seemed interested in the turian. Several asari moved up to where he was lounging against the bar with a drink in his hand and watching the dancers. She watched him talk to the asari then they shrugged and moved off to the next person. A male turian approached him next and they talked for a while longer before the big one gave a subtle shake of his head and the other turian wandered off.

The turian started to look around and their eyes met for a few seconds before his slid away and back to the dance floor. The music changed to a techno beat and the lights flashed faster and more people went out on the floor. She placed an order for one more drink and watched as the turian's foot started tapping on the floor to the beat. His eyes met hers again and he pushed off the bar and strutted to the dance floor and started to dance to the music.

Shepard watched as the turian threw his arms in the air waving them around as his hips gyrated and his feet moved to the beat of the music. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, the way he moved, the way his hips flexed toward her as he turned in a slow circle. His thighs bunching. She unconsciously licked her lips and saw his brow plate raise as he once again thrust in her direction, his hand punching upwards in the air.

As the song ended she motioned toward the vacant seat at her table. He stroked his mandible then walked toward her sliding into the booth. He placed an order for a drink.

"Quite impressive moves you have." She practically purred at him.

"You should have joined me." His voice was underscored by the subharmonics and the thrum of it sent a shiver down her back.

"Hmm, I found I quite liked the view from here." She let her eyes travel over him again and noticed his brow plate raise and his mandibles flick.

"I am thinking you didn't invite me to sit with you to talk about my dancing. Did you?" He murmured as he slid around the booth closer to her. His arm draping along the back of the rest, while he brushed a talon down her bare arm, seeing her shiver and watching small bumps raise on her skin. How interesting.

"No, I didn't actually. I was hoping for ... something a bit different." Her own finger traced a path over the males carapace and down his arm. He leaned into her, his mandibles brushing against her hair.

"Hmm, that sounds... interesting." He leaned back a little and brushed her hair from her neck, his tongue licking a little path up her neck to behind her ear. She shivered again and let out a small moan. When the server approached with their drinks he moved away from her slightly. He reached for his drink and felt her hand drifting down over his carapace again. When he turned back to her, she was looking at his mandibles. Surprising him when she leaned forward and licked along it with that warm, wet tongue of hers.

It was his turn to let out a small moan, "so tell me, have you been with turians before? Do you know how this works with my people?" When she told him she hadn't and didn't he pulled back a little. He hadn't had a human but had heard stories about how some of them were not into something casual and wasn't sure if this would work.

"We like to keep things simple, this is just blowing off steam, no emotional entanglements at this stage." He leaned closer again whispering in her ear, "this would be nothing more than a good, hard, night long fuck." He heard her groan as his tongue traced her ear. "Sound like something you're still wanting?"

"Sounds like exactly what I was looking for."

His eyes, which she now saw were a piercing shade of green, blinked at her then he smiled. "What the hell we still doing here then?"

 

* * *

 

The hotel was cheap but looked decently clean. He slid his omni tool under the scanner renting them a room for the night, neither one wanting to take the other to their home. He pushed the door shut behind them, then was on her. Pushing her up against the wall, lifting her up and moaning when her legs encircled his waist. His tongue rasped over her neck as he shoved her dress up higher on her body, his gloved hands gripping her ass.

Her hands were busy running over his cowl and the back of his carapace as he ground into her. She stroked his neck and up under his fringe, encountering a soft spot above the plating on the back of his neck that when she dragged her fingers over it caused him to jerk into her and let out a loud moan. He pulled her away from the wall and set her down in front of the bed, his hands moving over her finding the small zipper that he pulled down before sliding the straps of her dress off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor.

He took a step back and looked over her body as he reached for the closures on his own suit. He watched as she reached back and did something behind her, the covering over her chest loosened and she let it fall. The bumps on her chest wiggled just slightly, large and round with a small nub in the center that peaked as he watched her run her hands over them. He felt his plates loosen a bit and grinned.

His hands ran over her body after the rest of their clothes were strewn at the bottom of the bed. Her own hands were on him and he guided them to his waist, telling her to squeeze and stroke him there, to scrape between his plates with her fingers. "Mmm, harder." He moaned when she finally dug in hard enough. He followed her direction when she showed him how to touch her, lick her, hearing her moans and smelling her pheromones spike when he got it right.

His talon brushed up her leg and slid along her center, the back of the talon stroking along the dripping opening, nudging the little button at the top and causing her to flex her hips upward. "You like that?" His throaty growl causing her to shiver and moan. He shifted and brought one of her hands down to the seam between his legs, showing her what he wanted. Then went back to stroking her. "Just like that, mmm, yes, keep going don't stop."

He groaned as his plates opened and he emerged into her hand. She gasped as she felt his girth and length filling her hand. He gave a chuckle then moaned, his mandibles fluttered and his eyes shut as she started to stroke him, from the thick base up the sides to slide across the head of his cock. She tightened her hold sliding back down and twisting her wrist just slightly.

He let out a slight growl as he shifted, removing her hand from him and rolling her over. As he moved behind her, she raised up, her legs spread, the moisture from her dripping down her thighs. "Beautiful, " he groaned as he took himself in hand, stroking a few times then placing the head of his cock at her hot entrance. Dipping in slightly, feeling the heat and wetness on him.

She felt his hands on her hips then she cried out as he thrust hard into her. She hissed as he pulled out and slammed back into her. His growl was her only warning as his thrusts sped up and grew deeper and harder. Her body started to shake and she felt him move his hands up to her waist and squeeze before he pulled out and turned her over. His green eyes were hooded as he lifted her up, wrapping her legs around him before he thrust back inside her.

Her hands gripped his arms as he started to pound into her, his head buried in her neck, his tongue licking and teeth scraping along the corded tendon there. Her cries and moans filling the room in contrast to his growls. Her body started to shake and tighten around him causing his rhythm to falter as he groaned, he let out a harsh moan as her fingers dug into that spot she had found earlier. His body thrusting harder into her when she screamed and arched into him, squeezing and milking him as he thrust several more times before pulling out and spilling himself on her stomach.

She stroked his mandibles and the sides of his neck as he let out a low moan. "It's a good thing I rented this room for the entire night. I think we are going to need it." He rolled over and got up from the bed heading to the bathroom and tossing her a towel for her to clean up with.

 

* * *

 

Shepard tried not to groan as a few hours later her omni tool signaled it was time for her to leave. Her thighs were rubbed raw, she had talon marks on her back and sides, and she thought there might be a small abrasion on her neck from where the turian kept licking and nipping at her with his teeth and mouth plates as he rode her hard several more times that night. She stretched and winced, but damn was it ever worth it.

She slid out of the bed hearing a slight wuffling snore coming from the male, she slipped on her dress, stuffing her panties and bra into her bag before putting her shoes on and letting herself out of the room, trying not to wake him.

Three hours later she was washed, applied medigel where she could, had bandages wrapped around her thighs to try and keep the fabric of her pants from making it worse and sitting at her desk at work when Kaetus came into the office asking her if she was ready to get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz37A6xmXX8
> 
> Video made by YouTube user: bloodgrave47
> 
> All these years and watching him never gets old :D


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

 

That morning was filled with paperwork interspersed with low mutters from Kaetus and suppressed hisses of pain from her. Before lunch she went to the first aid station and told them she needed a pain reliever for a strained muscle. The turian on duty looked at her, his eyes moved over her and his mandibles fluttered. "Uh-huh, strained muscle ... that's a new one. For future reference, you may want to stop off at a chemist shop for chaffing and healing ointment along with a different cleanser to get rid of his pheromones and not just cover it up." He pointed to the area of her neck that the turian had licked and nibbled raw, "you may want to put more medigel on there and tell him that a female human's skin is more delicate than turian hide."

She let out a squeak and turned red, grabbing the packet of powder from him and hurrying back to her desk. She dumped the packet into her mouth and drank almost the entire can of Tupari before reaching into her pocket and bringing out the small spritzer of perfume oil she had bought last night, quickly applying a few sprays hoping to cover whatever that other turian had smelled on her.

"You ready to get a move on and head to lunch?" Kaetus called to her and she nodded. She had noticed he had been distracted all morning, once in a while letting out a muttered curse as his omni tool would ring and he would read the message.

Their food had just arrived when once again his omni tool went off and he let out a growl. "What's got you so upset today?"

He let out a huff, "remember the call that came in last night before our shift ended?" She nodded at him. "It was my aunt and uncle, they decided to come from Palaven since both of their son's mandatory time of service is almost over and they're moving here in a couple of weeks. Well, they never bothered to let me know until right then. At the same time my younger brother was also going to be on 24 hour shore leave. Of course being family they thought they would stay with me, only I don't have room for all of them. So the two of them arrive, started to argue because they didn't have a contingency plan on where to stay. Then my brother shows up fully expecting the guest room since we had already agreed to him staying. Well sometime during the several hours that I was trying to find my aunt and uncle a hotel room, my brother goes out."

He sat back a bit in his chair and ordered another kava, "so finally I found them a place and sent my brother a message on his omni tool to let him know, only it had been shut off. After all that, he doesn't show up until an hour before he needs to be back on his ship. The cocky bastard was strutting through the apartment, humming with disgusting happiness. On the way to drop him off at his ship, the bastard tells me that he got lucky with finding someone to blow off steam with last night. I didn't want to hear about it and told him so. Now he's been sending me these damn messages. Telling me that he was picked up by a human female, of all things, and how they screwed all night long in some cheap motel near the club and how he was her first turian. How he hopes that when he goes back to the I-Nova club, when he's here on shore leave again, he can find that same female. Since apparently, she was one hell of a fuck and could take it no matter how hard he pounded into her and he wanted to hear her scream as she came again. This last message told me I should go find one to blow off steam with since apparently it was like nothing he's ever had before."

He looked up at the choking sound that was coming from Shepard. "You ok?"

She was redder than the carpet and pounding on her chest, she just nodded and gasped out, "yeah... too much information there, partner." Out of the thousands of turians that she could have picked up for a one night stand, it was her luck to sleep with her partner's brother.

He stared at her for a moment longer before they got up to go back to work. He glanced at her several times and scratched his crest then his mandible. She noticed and hurried as fast as she could to the car and got in, giving herself another spritz of perfume just in case.

The rest of the day was spent doing work and trying to avoid every turian in C-Sec, which was a failure. Everywhere she went there seemed to be a turian watching her with what she assumed was a smirk on his face. Their one mandible flicking to the side. She was a wreck by the time she left, calling out a "see ya later" to Kaetus as she ran past him.

"Huh, wonder what that was all about." He muttered as he headed toward the door, he failed to hear the snickers from the two male turians that were leaning against the wall.

Shepard walked up and down the aisles of the local chemist looking for that ointment that the turian had mentioned. She picked up several and read the label, not really sure which one would work in her situation, she grabbed one of each and looked around the store, when she was sure no one else was about she headed for the desk under the "Have Questions?" sign. She dumped them all on the counter and rang the quaint little bell that was sitting next to the "Ring for Service" sign.

A salarian came bustling around the corner and headed for the counter. "Yes? How can I be of help?" He glanced down at the pile of products on the counter before looking back up at the human standing there.

"I need help deciding which one of these would work for my situation." Her cheeks were fiery red and she could see the salarian's eyes move over her and settle on the spot on her neck.

"Chaffing. Turian and human mating is quite damaging to unprepared human skin. None of these will work. Follow me." He picked up the jars and rushed toward the cream aisle placing all the jars back into their spots. Then walked further down to the sexual aid area. Pulling several jars off the shelf. He handed her a jar with a picture of a grinning turian. "Chaffing cream. Use on thighs before sexual exertion. Replace the cream after shower and skin is fully dry. Wait 20 minutes then use this ointment for healing." He hurried over to the bathing section and took down a large bottle off the top shelf. "Use this each time you have intercourse with mate. Best time is in the morning and evening. Can also be used on hair. Scrub thoroughly." He pulled off a sponge and shoved it at her. "Mate can also use product to remove your scent from his plates."

Their next stop was the bandages and medicine shelves where he pulled down a jar with a picture of a human woman putting a bandage on a child. "Use this on neck and anywhere else the turian licked and bit. Will heal and if he ingests accidentally it will not kill him." He led her to the checkout counter and reached under it for a pamphlet. "Brochure listing positions safe and enjoyable for both species. Also contains instructions for product application. Extranet links for more information and visual aids. Also number for emergency services and this shop."

She was looking dumbfounded at the salarian as he rang up her purchase, quickly tucking the brochure into the bag he handed her. "Uh, thank you," she glanced at the name tag that was worn on his white lab coat, "Mordin."

"Glad I could be of help. Thank you for shopping Solus' Solutions. Come back soon. Have a pleasant day."

 

* * *

 

A week went by with Kaetus spending more time searching for apartments for his cousins and their parents than doing actual police work, even had her going through the advertisements looking for a place. "Here's one, it's on Kithoi Ward, only has two bedrooms though. Maybe one of your cousins could stay with you until something else came along? They are supposed to be here in less than three weeks, doesn't give you a lot of time."

Kaetus kept grumbling as he downed another kava. "We shouldn't be doing this anyway. My aunt and uncle should have started looking when they decided to come to the Citadel when the cousins told them they weren't re-enlisting. You said Kithoi Ward... maybe. But the one has a job at Huerta so he's going to want something close to the Presidium, not on it because none of us could afford it even if we all jammed into one apartment." He let out a snort imagining what his aunt and uncle would say to that. "I'll call the place and set an appointment to see it at lunch." She passed him the data pad and he jotted down the number.

 

* * *

 

Kaetus took off the entire week when his family showed up. She was stuck at her desk doing all of the paperwork that he once again let build up and let out a disgruntled sigh. He sent her a message asking for an update then complaining about all the crap his family had brought with them. She shook her head, he had told them over and over on the vid calls that he had to take while at work, to get rid of a bunch of that stuff or put it into storage, it was an apartment not a big house.

The weeks started to fly by as things started to get back to normal. Not including the times that they were in the middle of something and he answered his omni tool to hear the screeching of his aunt and uncle in the background needing something.

"This is getting ridiculous, I'm more stressed by having them here than what I was when we had been assigned that serial killer to hunt down. It's like having a bunch of kids instead of a group of grown people. Now they are arguing over their youngest, he wants to move out to his own place. He apparently found a small business and wants to lease it. They don't want him too, of course, but he's getting more insistent about it. They want me to drop what I'm doing and go take a look at the place then tell him no. Even if it's a good spot."

"If it's a nice spot though it may do well. From what it sounds like he's probably needing the space away from his parents."

Kaetus leaned back in his seat, "you're right about that. It's almost lunch anyway, why don't we head over and check the place out and grab something to eat around there."

The place was a mess and it had been empty for quite a while but it was in a decent spot, with the right advertising and whatever he was going to be selling it may make a pretty decent business.

"As long as he doesn't want to open yet another fast food joint or coffee house he should do pretty well." She pointed to the same franchise of coffee houses that were directly across from each other.

Kaetus snorted and flicked his mandibles at her, "oh don't worry about that, knowing my cousin one of those isn't what he's planning. And this spot is pretty nice at that." He held up his omni tool and scanned over the info chip embedded into the For Lease sign and read over everything. "Rent is cheap here. Probably because it's pretty far from the Presidium and the more fashionable areas." He scanned in his identification chip and opened the door to look on the inside of the building. Noting on a data file the repairs that would be needed. "Okay, you know what. I think you're actually right. This place may be just what he's looking for, with a little bit of clean up and repair it will work. It may piss off my relatives but I'm going to tell them it's a good spot and help him get it."

A month later Kaetus told her that it was leased out and asked if she had the weekend free, him and his other cousin was going to start getting it ready as the one that was the actual business owner needed to take the transport to Illium to pick up some things that weren't available on the Citadel and he didn't want to pay for the shipping when he could just bring it back with him on the transport for much less.

Kaetus introduced her to Kraytian and she thought she strained her neck muscles looking up at the tall turian. "Shit, you must be what, seven foot tall. Damn, I thought Kaetus was big."

She blushed when they started to laugh, "nah partner, you're just short."

"Oh ha ha. Very funny, pick on the shrimpy human. I see how you're going to be." They all laughed and got to work. 

 

* * *

 

Months later all of the candidates got called into Bailey's office along with their partners. "Alright. The reason I called you all in here, as you know in six months is the annual C-Sec Charity Ball. Now normally I wouldn't give a sewer rats ass if you all showed up or not. This year though is a different story, the damn Council is expecting some hoity toity dignitaries from that new race they are trying to bring into the fold. As such they started to chew my ass out about how little turn out we have. This year they expect all of the candidates to buy the tickets and to be there. You are to take part in it. That means even the partners, yes even you Verilus and Mason. No going and then disappearing to the bar down the alleyway this year five minutes after it starts."

He picked up a stack of datapads and shoved them at the closest recruit telling them to give one to everyone. "There is the rundown. The cost of the tickets, the rental place for your appropriate clothes. No purple socks and sandals this year Taslor. The menu is on there, pay attention so you don't eat the wrong thing. You got six months to get yourselves prepared for this one night. And just in case there are those still of a mind to skip out, anyone not there will be serving the rest of their training in the lower wards area. That includes their Officer partners and vice versa."

There was a collective hiss and groan that echoed through the room. "Now get your asses out of my office and get back to work."

Shepard had started to shake and she went pale. A ball meant long skirts and polite mingling. It meant dancing. She felt her stomach heave. She couldn't do it... Kaetus would kill her if she didn't show up. The lower wards were nothing but trash duty. Littering, a few drunken brawls, a couple of prostitution or lewd behavior charges were what happened down there. She would lose her chance at the CID placement because it would go on her work record.

She paid no attention to his grumbling as they went back to work. She somehow had to learn to dance and do it in less than six months. She couldn't afford dance lessons, her tight budget wouldn't allow it. What the hell was she to do? A quick flash of Kaetus' brother entered her mind, that turian knew how to dance but he wasn't here all that often and she had been avoiding the club like the plague since she found out. But maybe...of course that could lead to him telling his brother and then who knew what else he would tell him or who else would find out.

 

* * *

 

When she got back to her apartment that night she went online and started to look up dance classes, there was a great little place in that ward where Kaetus' cousin had opened that shop, it was out of the way so she doubted any of her fellow workers would find out about it, but then she saw the price, frowned and closed out the tab. She rubbed her head and did a search for online classes. After being deluged with links all proclaiming their methods were tried and true, along with being identical to each others, right down to the web page only changing the name of the store, she found one that looked a bit different. Selling an osd with dance methods on it, at a super, low, low rate of just 500 credits, with a money back guarantee if you aren't happy and still can't dance at the end of the program. There was a tiny, barely noticeable link that read disclaimer. When she clicked on it she found the money back guarantee was only if you could prove the buyer had gone through the course. She scratched her head...how the hell was she to prove it.

She shut off the terminal and went to bed, her head covered with the pillow and wondering how bad Kaetus was going to yell when she told him she just couldn't go.

 

* * *

 

When she approached him the following morning she quickly changed her mind about telling him. He was slamming his drawers shut, threw a datapad across the room shattering it on the wall then proceeded to kick the trashcan denting it so badly it looked like it folded in on itself by the time it came to a halt against the office door.

"Uh...is this a bad time? Maybe I should go."

"What? No, not a bad time. It's my damn family. Kray told me they all had a huge fight last night and now his brother is threatening to move out. Said he'd rather sleep in the turian shelter than to live in that apartment one day longer. And of course his parents came to me to fix it."

"Sounds like you need a vacation from your family." He gave a snort then looked up at her.

"You got that right, some really good stress relief is what I need. What was it you wanted?" He picked up the can and tried to set it upright only to have it fall over again. He looked up again when she didn't say anything, only stood there fidgeting. "What is it? What's wrong? Can't be worse than what is going on with me."

"I...it's about... about that ball that Bailey told us about. Kaetus... Kaetus I can't do it. I can't go."

"What the fuck do you mean you can't go? Do you have any idea what the hell the Lower Ward duty will do to our records. You can kiss your position goodbye if you don't go. And I will lose my damn promotion. Hell no. You're going. Cancel whatever you were going to do. Period."

"You don't understand ... it's not that I have something else to do... it's, it's because... because," she was standing there twisting her hands and her pheromones finally registered that it was the scent of fear that was coming off of her in waves.

"What? What has you so scared? It's just a ball." His voice had softened and he took a closer look at his partner. She was pale and shaking, frightened to death.

"Promise me you won't laugh or tell anyone?"

He took several steps closer to her, her pheromones even stronger, "I promise, but this has to be something major for you to be like this. You're always so calm and collected even under heavy fire."

"I can't dance. There wasn't a reason to learn. We didn't have those things on Earth and even if we did I wouldn't have went. I mean they couldn't give me even shittier details than what I already had anyway." Her voice was a whisper, barely loud enough for him to hear. "And the lessons are so expensive, with what I make and the cost of everything. I can't do it."

He stared at her then his mandibles fluttered. She heard a rumble come from his chest before he started to laugh. He saw her hang her head and start to back up toward the door, "wait..wait. I'm sorry. I'm truly not laughing because of you not being able to dance. Really. Honestly. It's just...", he reached out and pulled her away from the door and toward her desk. "Sit and listen. I think I may have a solution to both of our problems. It may take a bit of tweaking, time wise, but just maybe."

She sat down but hadn't looked up at him. He tilted her chin up and saw the tears forming in her eyes, "hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make things worse. Listen to what I have to say, alright. If it isn't something that you think will work, I'll try and help the best I can. You are working hard and would make a damn good CID officer and I don't want you to lose your chance at it because of this mess."

He pulled his chair out and wheeled it up next to her. "Here is the thing, both my brother and cousin, the one you haven't met yet, are both damn good dancers. Now my brother is still serving in the Hierarchy military and is away a lot, so he probably wouldn't be the best choice. But the store that my cousin opened is actually a dance studio, he teaches dancing. I know your place is small and you don't really have a bedroom, but you work during the day and he's usually at the studio teaching at night. If you were comfortable enough, maybe he would exchange dance lessons for letting him stay in your apartment. If necessary I can bring a cot if you don't want him using your bed. And no one will know about him teaching you. If anyone asks... maybe we'll just tell them you guys are living together. His parents will hit the roof, but he's an adult, and will be out of the house. Kray refuses to move in with his parents so I'm going to be stuck with him until he can find an apartment close enough to the hospital."

He bent down a bit further, "what do you say, partner? Shall I talk to Carius about it? He's trustworthy, plus you would beat the shit out of him if he tried anything." He gave her a turian grin that caused her to let out a small huff of laughter.

"I don't know, Kaetus. I don't want my problems to cause you more of a headache with your family."

He flicked his mandible, "don't worry about that. Well, what will it be? The sooner you tell me, the sooner I can talk with him. Not to mention the sooner I can get the hell out of their apartment and get to the closest bar."

She was quiet for several minutes then gave him a slight nod. He grinned then sent Carius a note.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, for those still reading thanks for being so patient with me as I get my head straight and get back to working on these. Hopefully soon things will get back to normal with quicker updates on my stories.

* * *

 

The next morning Kaetus was waiting for her to arrive at work. He had a cup of kava in one hand and a datapad in the other, the top of his desk had even more pads strewn across it. "Good, you're here. We got a lead on the double homicide in the lower ward. We need to get cracking and get to these people for statements before the trail gets colder. When we get back we'll talk about the situation with my cousin."

The day dragged on, the people clamming up and just telling them they hadn't seen anything, heard anything or know anything. Kaetus let out a growl and tossed the last datapad up on the dashboard of the skycar before putting it into the C-Sec lane and heading back toward headquarters.

Shepard sat to fill out the paperwork as Kaetus' omni tool once more gave a familiar ring and he hit the decline key on the holo screen. He started to grumble then placed an order with the cafe next door to deliver their lunches. "After we eat and all that paperwork is dumped onto Bailey's desk we need to talk about the arrangement with Carius. He wanted out of the apartment as fast as possible. As soon as I told him about the offer he ran to his room and started dumping his clothes into his kit bag. His parents are livid, as you can probably tell by the incessant ringing of my omni tool." He no sooner said it than it gave out that all too familiar ping and he once again denied the call.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean ... what exactly did you tell them?" Shepard asked as she pulled up a report screen on her terminal and filled in the Investigator's Report area before hitting save and transferring it to the data pad.

"Well, they were out when I got there, Carius was getting ready to go open the studio and I told him what was going on. He was busily packing as they came home and they asked about it. He told them... err... well, sorta shouted really, that he had enough and was moving out and into uhh..., " his mandibles were flicking like mad by this point, "he yelled at the top of his lungs he was moving in with his Human lover, before I had the chance to say anything."

Shepard stopped typing, her hands frozen above the keyboard, "he said what?"

"Yeah... and after hearing my brother talk about that i-Nova Human each time he comes to visit, they really, really hit the roof." He shifted nervously on his chair, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the metal balls hitting each other from one of those Newton's Cradle gadgets that she had found in the Human Antiquities Shop and the light squeak of his chair. His omni tool rang again and he quickly denied the call and cleared his throat.

"I can't...," her fingers shook a bit as they hung over the holo pad.

"Look, it's not as if they know which Human. To most of us you all look alike anyway. They don't know you, never met you and Kray won't let on that it's my partner. Don't worry about it. After a while things will calm down and after this whole ball thing he can start looking for a small apartment of his own. Anyway, he spent the night at the studio. All his gear is packed, he has a cot if you want him to bring it. I told him that I would let you know and then we can pick him up on the way to your place after work... tonight."

"You what!?" The tick-tick of the balls was drowned out by her screech.

"Well, I'm sure it's fine. He was uh... rather insistent actually. His parents had um... started to call him and Uncle showed up at the studio during business hours. So... yeah." He cleared his throat again and shifted, the squeaking of the chair sounded again. The intercom buzzed and told him their lunches had arrived and he stood up quickly, sending his chair moving into the wall as he hurried away from his partner.

When he had returned carrying the delivery boxes she was sitting in the same position, with her hands still hovering above the keyboard.

 

* * *

  
Kaetus slid the skycar neatly into the slot and they got out, "don't worry, it will be fine, Shepard. He's really a fun guy, I think you'll like him. He called me earlier and told me he closed the studio down for the night so that he would have time to go and put everything in order and stock his food, that kind of stuff. Plus it will give you all some time to talk over things and get to know each other."

They were walking down the deck heading toward where the studio was, Shepard stopped at one of the coffee shops to get herself a large frozen raspberry double mocha with whipped cream and raspberry squiggles, sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings and Kaetus went to get Carius and help him with his belongings. She heard them before she saw them, a small group of Turians storming toward her, well not right at her since she was standing off to the side. One with a kit bag thrown over his shoulder and a large bag gripped in his other hand, Kaetus was carrying another two bags, while trying to keep a grip on a large cot that was tucked up under his arm and following them were a female and male Turian, yelling at the other one, telling him to stop this nonsense and to go back home where he belonged.

"No! You both are driving me crazy." The taller of the two males that were in the lead yelled back at them as he sped up.

Shepard stuck the straw in her mouth and started to drink her coffee as they came toward her, her eyes drifting over the strange Turian that would be sharing her home for the next few months. He was taller than Kaetus and had dark brown hide with tan colored plates. The same purple clan markings were on his face that Kaetus and Kray had. She started to drink faster as they sped toward her, she let out an ugh and grabbed for the side of her head when she ended up with brain freeze from the cold drink.

"Shepard? What's wrong?" Kaetus asked as he drew closer and heard her hissing and moaning while grasping her head.

"I froze my brain. I drank this fucking thing way too fast." Shepard held up her drink and wiggled it.

"Wait... a Human can freeze their brains just by drinking something?" A strange, deep Turian voice asked and she glanced up to see the large Turian looking at her.

"It's an expression, our brains really don't freeze, the coldness sorta narrows our blood vessels and causes a sharp pain which lets us know to slow down."

"Oh, well that's really odd."

"Ehh, lots of things are odd," she stuck the straw back in her mouth and started drinking again.

"Shepard, this is Carius, the cousin I told you about, and these are his parents. Everyone this is my partner at C-Sec, Shepard. She's helping me move some of this junk." He held out one of the bags and she gave a grunt as she shouldered it.

"Well, that Human can move this stuff right back to our apartment where Carius belongs. A Human lover, how could you Carius? A little bit of experimentation is normal for someone your age, but really, moving in with a Human and letting it be known you have a Human fetish? A xenophile? After that cousin of yours and that fiasco of him searching all over that ward for that Human female?"

Shepard's eyebrows rose and she drank faster, her eyes moving between all of them. _Shit, if they ever found out just who I am, I'm going to be in big trouble._

"You leave my female out of this, both of you. I'm moving in with her and it's final, and don't you come bothering my students at the school again. I almost lost several clients because you scared them, thinking they were her and threatening them. It took me hours after you left to tell them it was a mistake and had to offer two of the women free classes to keep them coming back. So keep your noses out of my business."

He started hurrying toward the only C-Sec vehicle in the car park and the others followed him, Shepard stopping long enough to toss her now empty cup into the recycle unit.

 

* * *

 

It took a bit of maneuvering to jam all his bags into the boot of the car, they had to use two sets of C-Sec cuffs to secure the cot to the roof, but finally got it all in there. Kaetus saw his Aunt and Uncle hurry into a car parked a few spaces away from him and try to follow. He shook his head and used his ID to rise up into the emergency lane and sped off. Just in case, he looped around several times, took an odd assortment of alleyways and turnoffs to get there and pulled into one of the dirty, dark passages to wait a few minutes just to make sure, before he parked in the rooftop lot.

Her eyebrows lowered as her jaw clenched when she registered Carius in the tenant's file. The young, pimply faced boy snickering as he looked back and forth between her and the large Turian. "You have a problem, boy?"

He gave a snort, "no, just didn't figure you for one of them alien lovers. If you were that hard up you could have come to see me."

"I'd screw a Vorcha before I'd let you touch me. They have treatments for acne now. Maybe if you saved your money and got them you'd be able to find a girlfriend and wouldn't need to subscribe to every porn channel and book there was." She yanked the keycard out of the boy's hand and held it out to Carius.

They took the old lift up to her floor, "what the hell was that about?" Carius' deep voice could barely be heard over the whine of the lift's motor.

"That weaselly little bastard is the owner's son. Prick tries to come on to every Human female under the age of fifty in this building. He grabbed one of girls from the first floor and her father punched him. They filed charges, I helped them to fill out the damn report myself. The next day an officer from this Ward came by, said it had all been a friendly misunderstanding and they let the bastard go. The following day I saw the girl and her father packing up their belongings, they received an eviction notice. Some garbage about being behind on their rent. They are suing because they have all their receipts and paperwork. I wish to hell I could get out of this dump too."

The doors slid open and they went down the hallway, a door at the far end opened up and they spotted an elderly man looking them up and down. Shepard smiled and waved at him. He gave a small wave back then shut the door.

"That's Mr. Johnson, he hears and sees everything that happens on this floor. I don't think I've ever seen him actually leave that apartment since I've been here. You'll see his grandson deliver food and stuff to him every week. This is us, floor 3, apartment 3D. I hope the hell Kaetus warned you about the tight quarters." She pointed at the small slot on the door with a tiny red light that was below a 9 digit keypad, "this building is so damn old and outdated it doesn't have one of the regular omni tool readers, you actually have to slide that card I handed to you into that slot, push in your number and push down on that handle."

The Turian looked down at her, "you're joking right?"

She shook her head and pointed to the slot. She watched as he flipped the card around and held it up, reading the tiny writing on it. He looked at Kaetus, "she's not joking is she." Kaetus dropped one of the bags on the floor and grabbed the card, sliding it into the slot then entered the six digit code that Carius had picked out. When the light went green he slid the card out and pushed on the handle. Shepard hurried in and entered the security code on her new system as they brought in the cot and bags.

"Spirits, he said it was small but this is... this is..."

"Miniscule? A shoebox? Yeah." Shepard pointed to a spot next to the Murphy bed cabinet, "pile your stuff up there. That cabinet contains my bed, the one in the corner has my clothes. If you decide you want to stay we can find you a matching one to put together. Um, your cot can slide behind the cabinet, I think."

While they were putting his stuff up against the wall she hurried over to the kitchen cabinets and cleared one out. "This cabinet you can have for your food and stuff. I'll clear a shelf from the cooler too. There isn't much room so don't buy a lot at one time. That door there is where the bathroom is, the lowest shelf behind the mirror you can have. Laundry facilities are next to the lift, the door is marked. Don't use the dryer with the black spot spray painted on it, if you do be prepared for scorched clothing. Oh... and see that little gadget on the floor, tucked in the corner? Don't block it, that's my vacuum and mopping robot, I call him George."

"A what?" Carius looked at the small black, round object that was sitting on what looked like a plate plugged into the wall. It had what looked like two large fuzzy red balls with black dots in the center of them stuck to the top of it, along with a long thin antennae near the back of it, a small red ribbon tied in a bow around it.

Kaetus started laughing, "Shepard has this thing for what she calls Human Antiquities, like that bed cabinet and the room cleaner. She has a few things on her desk at work as well." He laughed as Carius jumped when George lit up and zoomed off the plate, starting to move around the room in a haphazard sort of way. "Well, that looks like everything. I'm going to head for a bar. Give it a few days Carius, if you guys just can't seem to work things out or whatever, let me know. I'll try and find you someplace else."

The two stood in the small area facing each other, "um...well, I'm Shepard and uh... hope you can get comfortable here. I work during the day normally, so if you want you can use the bed then. Just really would appreciate it if you um... didn't bring anyone else here for uh... you know." She cleared her throat. "The utilities are included in the rent, except for the vid streams and monthly cost for the security system." She scratched her forehead, "don't lose your key card, the owner is a real asshole and will charge you a hundred credits for replacing it. Even though the bastard has a whole box of the damn things under the counter."

His mandibles were flicking to the sides as he took in the entire apartment, "I got to ask you, why in the name of the Spirits do you live here? Why not get a better place?"

"This is what I could afford on my pay. My parents live on Earth in a nice home, quiet neighborhood, they worked all their lives for that house. I couldn't just ask them to buy me a place here, or pay my rent. We didn't think things were so expensive here, when the agent found this place they made it sound cozy, safe, the holos that they took made it look a hell of a lot larger. I'm locked into the lease for the next year and a half, by then I'll know if I am going to become an Officer or will need to go home and remain a beat cop for the rest of my life... or find a different line of work. It's why I agreed to do this, if we don't go to that ball, then not only will Kaetus lose his promotion, I'll lose my chance at becoming an investigator in the CID."

She shrugged, "give me a few minutes to change out of my uniform, then I can show you around the neighborhood."


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

 

 

Neither one seemed to have gotten much sleep. As soon as one tossed or turned, let out a sigh or coughed it would startle the other one.

They figured out a temporary solution concerning the use of the tiny bathroom and as Shepard got ready for work, Carius stood in the kitchen and put together something for his breakfast. He was making a list of items that he thought would be welcome additions to the small apartment, for their comfort and privacy. Even if things didn't work out he would leave the items there, as a thank you for even trying to help give him a bit of peace.

As soon as Shepard came out of the bathroom, dressed in her uniform, he grabbed a set of casuals and headed into it. She fixed her breakfast and checked her messages, one from Kaetus asking if Carius had survived the night or if she had killed him yet.

She gave a huffing laugh and sent back a message telling him that his cousin was still alive, for now, and that she was heading into work. She called out she was leaving and heard him say something back that she didn't understand and just shrugged, grabbed her keycard and left.

Carius poked his head out the bathroom door and didn't see Shepard there and gave a huff, "why didn't she wait for me? Oh well, since she didn't say no to me asking if it was alright to get some stuff, guess she won't mind."

He pulled his head back in and started the shower going. He reached for his cleanser when he noticed a large bottle sitting on an upper shelf and pulled it down. "Turian pheromone remover. Use after prolonged contact to remove the natural musk scent from your skin. Doesn't just cover it up but completely and thoroughly removes the oil. Can also be used on turian plates to remove the natural oils left from contact with human skin. Use only as directed. If product gets in eyes, flush with water. Do not ingest."

He scratched his crest for a moment before putting it back, "huh, wonder what she has that for."

He finished cleaning up before he grabbed his own keycard and went shopping.

 

* * *

 

"You look like shit, Shepard."

"Shut it, Kaetus. I didn't sleep at all last night. Having your cousin there is going to take getting used to. Is his parents still trying to find out where he is?"

"Yep. They came knocking on my door last night and I told them that he was where he wanted to be. I thought my Uncle was going to punch me at one point. It was bad enough that my Aunt made a sad sounding hum, as if the entire galaxy was coming to an end. Do you think it's going to work out?"

Shepard dropped into her desk chair and turned on her terminal. "I don't know, still too early to tell. We did at least sit and talk a bit after we got back from the market. Got a bit of schedule worked out. What's on the docket for today?"

"Paperwork. Bailey wants the reports on the cases from last week as soon as you get them typed up. Then we have an appointment at the clothing rental place for our clothes. With as many people as expected to go, we need to get there early or we'll be stuck wearing the crappiest things we can find and if I have to stick around I'm going to look good doing it."

Shepard let out a groan and started to fill out the reports.

 

* * *

 

 

When they entered the shop the Asari at the counter looked up and saw both of them wore C-Sec uniforms and quickly approached them. "Welcome, you are here about the C-Sec ball rentals?"

"Yes. I need something stylish and my partner here needs something... that she won't trip over or ruin if she drops her cake on it."

Shepard's jaw dropped and she punched his arm. "Very funny, Kaetus. I hope she sticks you in a pink tutu for that."

"Pink isn't my color, clashes with my purple markings. Maybe something in a dark blue or black?" Shepard rolled her eyes and wandered over to the ladies section while Kaetus took up the Asari's attention. Shepard shook her head as he flirted shamelessly with her in order to get one of the nicest sets of Turian formal wear that was available at a discounted rate.

When she was done taking his measurements and assuring him that the suit would be ready in time for the ball she went to check on Shepard. The clerk found her hidden in a corner behind several tall racks of dresses.

"Now miss have you found something?"

"Uh... no." She stood there chewing her lip and moving the hangers back and forth along the pole.

The Asari looked her over for a moment. "Well, what about color then? Maybe we can narrow it down if we only look for a particular color?"

Shepard shrugged then glanced around the Asari to see Kaetus glance at his omni tool.

"Alright, what about a style? It's a ball so long gowns only." She got another shrug from the Human woman and she let out a huffing sigh. "What do you normally wear when you go to formal functions?"

"Huh? Uh..."

The Asari rubbed her forehead. "I see... one moment." She hurried over to the counter and pulled out a scanner from under it then hurried back over to her. "This will take a full body scan of you, then we'll just upload it into the database and run a simple program that will let us know the best colors and then we can skim through what we have and see what looks best on the model."

 "Yeah, alright."

 After a few minutes they went over to a large terminal and the Asari started to upload the data.

 "What the hell is taking you so long, Shepard?"

 "Shut up, this was your idea not mine."

 "Wasn't my idea either. Stupid orders." Kaetus sat in one of the chairs and opened his omni tool, a few minutes later both women glanced over as they heard the sound of Galaxy Invaders Five start playing and his grunts and hisses as his talons tap on the holo keys. "Alright! Take that you bastard. Headshot!"

 Shepard shook her head and turned back to the terminal. Once the program ended, she chose one of the colors she liked best then picked out a style that had looked good on the screen.

 "Alright, here you go. Your ticket to pick up your dress and here are the matching shoes. I am guessing you will need to, hmm, get used to wearing something like these?" The Asari lifted the lid off the box and Shepard smiled as she saw the high heeled lace up sandals.

 "No, I got that covered."

 The Asari let out a small laugh and ran her credit chit, placing the hold deposit and rental fee on it. "Have a pleasant day."

 

* * *

 

 Shepard let out a groan as she carried the box of shoes and two bags of groceries down the hallway to get to her door. She juggled everything around and inserted her key card in the slot and opened the door. She headed toward the kitchen and came to a dead stop. In the middle of the tiny living room was a pile of boxes. Wrapping paper was strewn all over the furniture and floor, a half assembled closet and poor George trying to find its way back to the recharging dock.

 "What the hell is all this?"

She dumped the stuff she was carrying on the counter and hurried over to unblock the path to the small plate, the robot zoomed toward it and spun around, backing up and dumping the debris it had gathered up into the small dustbin before going into sleep mode.

 Carius popped his head out from around the bathroom door. "Oh you're here. Welcome home." He came out wrapping a bandage around one of his fingers before sliding his glove back on. "Stupid screwdriver slipped and cut me."

 "What is all this stuff?" She asked as she stepped over bits and pieces that were laying on a sheet of the paper beside the assembly instructions for the closet.

 "A few things I bought, I told you this morning before you left I was getting some stuff."

 "You what? I don't remember you saying anything." She started to put her stuff away as he struggled with the closet again.

 "I was in the bathroom."

 "Oh." She watched him struggle with trying to hang the doors on the closet before she sighed and went over to help him. This was just another reason she bought second hand stuff, it came already put together.

 

* * *

 

 They collapsed on the couch later that night after everything had been put together, moved into place and cleaned up after. Now the tiny apartment felt even more cramped.

 "Maybe... maybe I bought too much stuff?"

 "No, ya think?"

 His mandibles flicked as he looked around the small room that now contained; another closet, coffee table, lamps, a bigger holo projector and a folded up screen to place across the foot of the bed, when they were both home and trying to sleep, to give a bit of privacy. That didn't include the inflatable mattress and larger cot that was tucked behind her murphy bed and in the bottom of the new closet. He was afraid to turn around to see how much space was left on the kitchen counters after buying a kava maker, juicer and a bigger countertop oven with quad burners. That one little burner plate she had just wouldn't cut it.

 He tapped his talons on his thighs as he sat there trying to figure out what to say to her. "Hmm, well... I'll uh... I'll buy us dinner. You just sit and relax and um... let me handle it." He stood up and walked to the kitchen. He was back less than a minute later. "Uh ... what do humans eat anyway?"

 She let out a snort, then stood up and flipped through the take out entries on the comm terminal finding one local enough to deliver, that was dual chirality. She tapped in what she wanted then headed for the shower after getting a change of clothes.

 

* * *

 

 

She was bleary eyed and yawning as she dragged herself to work the next morning.

 Kaetus eyed her warily as she flopped down in her chair and dropped her head to the desk. "Bad night?"

 She didn't even bother to open her eyes, just let out a pffut sound from her lips and muttered something about hating men who liked late night movie marathons when other people are trying to sleep.

 Kaetus let out a huff, "I'll talk to him. He does things like that when he's nervous or upset. He's working tonight at the studio so you should be able to get some sleep."

 After a few more minutes she let out a sigh and sat up.

 "What's up for today?"

 "We got passed a report on a crime down in the markets. We need to head out and do another crime scene check and all the rest. The first officers thought something strange was going on but couldn't find anything. Brass is wanting a fresh set of eyes."

 She grunted, "swing by a coffee shop first or else this set of eyes won't stay open."

 

* * *

 

 They were having their usual lunch of quick take out while eating in their squad car, when Kaetus asked her when her lessons would start. "We have five months now, Shepard."

 "I know... boy do I know. Tomorrow before the studio officially opens for the night. Carius said this first time would be just going over the basics and seeing what I would need to work on." She let out a snort. "Hope to hell he can perform a miracle."

 

* * *

 

 She entered her apartment and let out a quiet hum. Hurried to grab a quick bite to eat, namely grabbing a meal replacement bar from the box, then showered and dropped into bed with a sigh.

 Her sleep fuzzy brain registered a noise coming from the door, the handle jiggled, the door creaked and she grabbed the pistol from the drawer just as the door opened.

 "C-SEC, freeze motherfucker, you broke into the wrong apartment!" She shouted.

 "Fuck... it's me, Shepard. It's Carius, don't shoot me for Spirit's sake."

 It took a second for her mind to clear and remember who the hell Carius was and that he now lived with her. "Shit... sorry about that, Carius." She flipped the safety back on and slid her Stiletto pistol back into the drawer before she flopped back onto the bed and yanked the covers back over her head.

 "You scared the shit out of me, Shepard and all you do is say sorry, then try and go back to sleep?"

 "Yeah, pretty much. Night."

 He stood there staring at where the bed was barely visible in the dim light coming from the glow of the clock on the shelf near it, his mandibles flicking and he wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself into.

 

* * *

 

 She let out a sigh and looked around the area, no one seemed to be paying any attention to her and she eased the door open and quickly slipped inside. "Carius? It's Shepard. You here?"

 She heard someone calling out from further into the building and followed their voice to a small mirrored room.

 "Hey, Shepard. Come on in. This is one of the private lessons room. Kaetus said you didn't want anyone to know about coming here for lessons I thought using this room would put you at ease. One of my assistants will run the regular class and he knows that we aren't to be bothered unless it's an emergency." He glanced up at the digital wall clock. "We have about a half an hour before the class starts. It runs an hour so that gives us plenty of time to see where we need to begin."

 "Uh-huh." Shepard asked nervously.

 "You brought the shoes you are going to wear?" At her nod he pointed to a small chair. "Ok, you put those on while I program the music."

 

* * *

 

 "Relax, Shepard. Don't worry so much, it will be just fine." Carius said, a smile on his face and his mandibles giving a slight flick. "I'm a professional here."

 "Uh-huh. You've been warned." Shepard muttered as she stood and walked toward him.

 He made sure the sign was turned on signifying a personal lesson was being given then turned on the music. "Okay, we'll start with something easy. Kaetus gave me the name of the company that provides the music at the Ball, and I persuaded her to give me the music list."

 "Persuaded huh?" She raised her eyebrow as he gave a chuckle.

 "Okay, relax and just follow my lead."

 

* * *

 

 "Ouch! What the hell was that? I said your left foot. Not stomp on my foot with your right one and break all the bones there." Carius limped over to the chair for the fourth time and dropped down heavily in it.

 "Oh Gods, I am so sorry. I knew this was hopeless. There is no way I can go there. Kaetus is going to kill me and dump my body in the protein vats. I know it... I just know it."

 Carius let out a sigh and tipped his head back slightly. "No, he won’t. This is just going to take a bit longer than I thought. We'll need to double if not triple the days you spend learning. That's all and go for something a bit... easier to begin with."

 "I can't do that. It will hurt your business." Shepard sat on the other chair and chewed her bottom lip.

 "That's why I have an assistant. This may just need to be done after closing instead of during business hours. Or maybe before I open for the day? And your days off as well, all day. No more going to that store and spending hours staring at those strange gadgets."

 She let out a small laugh and glanced up at the time. They'd been at it for over two hours and all she accomplished was maiming him. She bent to unlace the shoes and get ready to go home.

 "I'll stop and get us some food on the way home. I'll leave it in the cooler for you, and tonight I promise no trying to shoot you as you come through the door."

 "Good to hear. Thought I may have to dust off my heavy armor and wear it just to get through the front door in one piece." He let out a groan and tested his weight on his foot then limped over to the door to look out. "The class is gone now, Shepard. I'll see you at home in a few hours."

 

* * *

 

 She barely twitched when he came through the door that night. He had called out softly as he had entered. She seemed to be exhausted as she didn't even wake up when the heating unit on the oven beeped at him signaling that his dinner was hot.

He sat there eating and wondering just how the hell he was going to pull this off. She had to be the worst dancer he had ever seen. No sense of timing or rhythm with the music. No connection with her partner. She had almost jumped out of her skin when he had put his hand above her waist to guide her in a basic step. How the hell was he to teach her enough not to feel like she's making a fool of herself in front of the crowd at the ball.

 "Maybe if she doesn't dance... just mingle." He let out a sigh, knowing full well that wouldn't work. Kaetus had told him that everyone was expected to not only mingle but to dance and talk with the attendees and each other. Not to mention the Council and their diplomatic guests. Well, he'd just have to do his best in the time they had. She had to get better with practice. Right?


End file.
